Truth be told, we, at Apsaras Arts, have literally been on the go. From last year until now, we have had the privilege of having travelled far and wide across the globe covering Australia, Thailand, India, France, England, just to give you an idea. Here’s Aravinth Kumarasamy, Artistic Director of Apsaras Arts taking us through our travels… 

In September 2023, Apsaras Arts presented Agathi at Nida Playhouse, Sydney and then at the Alexander Theatre, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia as part of IPAC 2023. 

In October, we toured France for the 11th Sacrées Journées Festival and the tour concluded with the performance of Skanda Margam by Mohanapriyan Thavarajah at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London. 

November kicked off with presentations of Sita’s Magical Forest & Parama Padam as part of the Indika festival conducted by Milapfest in Liverpool and the performance of Skanda Margam at Strasbourg.

The busy month of December started with the dance performance of Amara: The dancing stories of Banteay Srei at Colombo and Jaffna, Sri Lanka followed by our participation in the Narthaka Festival at ICCR, Colombo, Sri Lanka. We were then at the Natya Kala Conference in Chennai for the annual December Margazhi Festival where, I presented a session titled, Natyarambha to Mungkah Lawang: Behind-the-scenes stories of collaboration in Bharatanatyam and Balinese dance in collaboration with Balinese artiste, Prof Dr I Wayan Dibia. We also hosted the Arisi Costumes Exhibition at Manjal, Chennai which was very well appreciated. 

The new year began with us co-hosting the Balinese dance workshop with the Bharata-Ilango Foundation for Asian Culture and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. As a Pongal treat, we presented the mega production, ARISI: Rice at the Madras Music Academy that received an overwhelming response. 

In March, we travelled to Kumbakonam and Thanjavur for the Natyanjali Festival performing in various temples in this region. March also saw the launch of our book and online streaming channel, Aham and Avai at CP Ramaswami Foundation, Chennai. 

In the month of April, Apsaras Arts was represented by three senior dancers Seema Hari Kumar, Deva Priya Appan and Somi Somesha in the Dvayam Melbourne Trinity Festival, Melbourne.

June began with the screening of the film, Sita at Parramatta Theatre, Australia and a Margam performance at the Sydney Music Festival. The month of June closed with the screening of Sita at the Tagore Film Centre, NFDC, Chennai

In July, we went to Bangkok, Thailand for the International Ramayana Festival 2024.